Fortunately for Locker and the rest of the Huskies, there won’t be a dissapointing Apple Cup tape to watch next year.

WSU quarterback Kevin Lopina is helped off the field after the second time he was injured in the first half of Saturday’s Apple Cup. (AP photo/Elaine Thompson)

Locker threw for 196 yards and rushed for 94 more and the Huskies shut out the Washington State Cougars 30-0 in the 102nd Apple Cup at Husky Stadium.

It was the first shutout for the Huskies since 1997 and the first in the Apple Cup since 1964.

It won’t be described as a pretty win in the years to come, but the Huskies handled business as predicted, dominating just enough in every category of the game to secure their first Apple Cup victory at Husky Stadium since 2003.

With both programs suffering through some of the lowest points in recent memory, the game was filled with penalties, dropped passes, and inefficient drives. Washington dominated the battle of statistics, but failed to put the game away until late in the fourth quarter.

Locker and Chris Polk, who became the first freshman in Huskies history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season, carried the load for the Huskies throughout the game. Polk finished with 130 yards on 25 carries.

Both teams got off to a sloppy start, trading drives that were stalled by penalties, as neither the Huskies or Cougars could get any kind of rhythm going in the first quarter.

“I think for a lot of reasons we were really antsy and maybe a little tight,” Sarkisian said of his team in the early going.

Mason Foster set up the Huskies first score with an interception of a Kevin Lopina pass. Foster returned the ball to the Washington State 13-yard-line, but the Huskies offense stalled once again in the red zone and had to settle for a 24-yard Erik Folk field goal to take a 3-0 lead after one quarter.

Lopina was knocked out of the game on the play and would return only for a brief series. It was just the start of an assault the Huskies defense laid on the Cougars quarterbacks. Washington State had to finish the first half with its fourth-string quarterback under center. The Cougars were held to 163 total yards of offense and suffered more than a few hits from the Huskies that elicited “oohs” from the crowd of almost 69,000.

After the game was delayed due to a member of the chain gang requiring medical attention on the sidelines, the Huskies came out strong, with Locker first rushing for 11 yards and then completing back-to-back passes to Jermaine Kearse for 74 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown strike that put the Huskies up 10-0.

“Jake threw a perfect pass and I just came out with it,” Kearse said.

An Erik Folk field goal later in the quarter gave the Huskies a 13-0 lead going into halftime.

The second half belonged to the Huskies as Locker produced a vintage performance, picking up most of his rushing yards after halftime. Locker and Polk led the Huskies on two long scoring drives that essentially put the game away in the third quarter.

Locker pulled out some throwback moves on the Huskies first scoring drive of the second half, rushing three times for 37 yards. Polk capped things off with a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Huskies up 20-0.

“We knew they were going to get a lot of guys back in coverage,” Locker said. “It gave us an opportunity to win.”

Washington was driving again when Xavier Hicks came up with an interception off a Jake Locker pass. The Cougars again drove into Huskies territory, but were stopped again on a fourth down try.

After that, the Huskies took over as the Cougars appeared to be out of gas. Washington put together another long drive that ended in a Folk field goal and added another touchdown in the fourth quarter on a Locker scramble to finish off Washington State.

It was the first Apple Cup for Sarkisian and his staff and came in the midst of a four-out-of-five streak for the Cougars.

“Hopefully they can all go something this,” Sarkisian said.

Game Notes: The member of the chain gang who went down in the second quarter was hit during a punt return and had to be placed on a stretcher and carted off the field in an ambulance…WSU attempted some trickery on its first drive, when Dwight Tardy took a handoff and threw back to Lopina. Lopina had Gino Simone wide-open for a touchdown, but overthrew the receiver. WSU later successfully completed a reverse-pass from Jeffrey Solomon to Simone for a first down…The Cougars finished the first half with their fourth-string quarterback under center at Lopina and Marshall Lobestael were knocked out with injuries.